Method for enclosing and protecting weapons and inflatable structure weapons bay for high speed aircraft



1970 J. A. DILWORTH Ill, ET 3 9 METHOD FOR ENCLOSING AND PROTECTING WEAPO ND INFLATABLE UCTURE HIGH STR WEAP BAY FOR SPE IRCRAFT F d April 2, 1968 INVENTORS JOHN A. D/LWORTHE JAMES R. TEMAN 3,494,247 METHOD FOR ENCLOSING AND PROTECTING WEAPONS AND INFLATABLE STRUCTURE WEAPONS BAY FOR HIGH SPEED AIRCRAFT John A. Dilworth III, Mercer Island, and James R.

Teman, Seattle, Wash., assignors to The Boeing Company, Seattle, Wash., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 718,059 Int. Cl. F41f /02 US. CI. 89-15 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An aircraft weapons bay comprising preshaped, inflatable bags mounted in the bay under and around a conventional bomb rack molded for filling all space in the weapons bay around the weapons, i.e., bombs, missiles, etc., whereby upon expulsion of the weapons, the pressure in the bags permits the inflatable material to be pushed aside and yet the pressure is high enough to impart sufiicient rigidity to the bag to retain the aerodynamic shape of the bottom of the aircraft for (a) elimination of bomb bay doors, their actuating mechanisms, and the requirement of opening the doors during supersonic flight, (b) elimination of detrimental air currents throughout the bomb bay area during a supersonic, bomb run flight, and (c) protection against all environmental weather conditions as freezing temperatures, moisture, dust, etc. For loading the bombs, the bags are deflated, the bombs attached to the bomb racks, and then the bags are inflated to fill all remaining space in the bomb bay. Alternatively, palletized loading systems comprise bags attached directly to the bomb racks, all removable to a remote bomb loading site, where the racks may be loaded and the bags inflated therearound in privacy and their secrecy maintained from prying eyes while being transported to and loaded in the aircrafts weapons bay.

Likewise, the bay may be utilized to carry other articles, as packages of mail, supplies, or cargo, capsules 'for seeding clouds, etc. and in other vehicles as land or space vehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention is classified in Class 244, Subclass 130, Devices and structural arrangements for reducing the resistance of aircraft or aircraft elements to motion through the air.

Summary of the invention An aircraft weapons or bomb bay is disclosed comprising preshaped, inflatable, fabric bags mounted in the bomb bay under and around a conventional bomb rack molded for filling all remaining space in the bomb bay, whereby upon expulsion of the bomb, the pressure in the bags permits the inflatable material to be pushed aside or displaced and yet the pressure is high enough to impart sufficient rigidity to the bag to retain the aerodynamic sha e of the bottom of the aircraft for (a) elimination of bomb bay doors, their actuating mechanisms, and the requirement of opening the doors during supersonic flight (b) elimination of detrimental air currents throughout the bomb bay area during a supersonic, bomb run flight, and (c) protection against all environmental weather conditions as freezing temperatures, moisture, dust, etc. For loading the bombs, the bags are deflated, the bombs attached to the bomb racks, and then the bags are inflated to fill all remaining space in the bomb bay. Alternatively, palletized loading systems comprise bags attached directly to the bomb racks which are 3,494,247 Patented Feb. 10, 1970 removable to a remote bomb loading site where the racks may be loaded and the bags inflated there around in privacy and their secrecy maintained from prying eyes While being transported to and loaded in the aircrafts weapons bay. I

Other advantageous features of the new weapons bay are:

(1) Its being readily adaptable to various shapes of Weapons and to various shapes of vehicle cavities;

(2) Its control of temperature environment of the weapons by circulating inflation gas within the bags;

(3) Its addition of transverse stability to the weapon;

(4) Its allowance of maximum clearance under the vehicle and in the weapons bay when deflated for loading and inspection of weapons;

(5) Its use of standard ejection racks and bomb shackles;

(6) Its provision of high reliability over powered door actuating mechanisms due to its simplicity;

(7) Its flexibility by possible alternate use for additional fuel storage;

(8) Its adaptability to modular concept of weapons loading;

(9) Its lighter weight due to (a) elimination of large actuating mechanisms for opening large doors against high aerodynamic loads, (b) elimination of concentrated loads from door hinges, actuator ties, etc., (c) elimination of anti-flutter spoilers and extra reinforcing for flutter-proof doors; and

(10) Its potential lower cost for an all weapons loading system.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a storage bay for releasable articles for a vehicle such that the external surface of the vehicle is maintained aerodynamically smooth prior to release of the articles and immediately subsequent to release of the articles.

Another primary object of this invention is to provide a weapons bay in a fast vehicle such as a supersonic aircraft that will eject weapons, as bombs or rockets without generating any aerodynamic turbulence and with few moving parts.

Another object of this invention is to provide a Weapons bay that requires no moving doors and door operating mechanisms.

A further object of this invention is to provide a palletized loading system of weapons for a weapons bay.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a more reliable, eflicient, simpler, temperature controlled, and lighter weapons bay for a fast vehicle.

Other objects and various advantages of the disclosed inflatable structure weapons bay for high speed aircraft will be apparent from the following detailed description, together with the accompanying drawing, submitted for purposes of illustration only and not intended to define the scope of the invention, reference being made for that purpose to the subjoined claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING The drawing diagrammatically illustrates by way of example, not by way of limitation, one form of the invention.

The figure illustrates the new weapons bay schematically in cross section in a high speed vehicle with parts cut away for clarity of disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention, the scope of which being defined in the appended claims, is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts shown and described, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various other ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

The figure discloses a vehicle 10, such as but not limited to a supersonic aircraft having a weapons cavity .or bomb bay 11 with no doors. Conventional bomb support and ejection racks 12 are connected to the top of the bay 11 for supporting and ejecting the bombs or rockets 13. Inflatable fabric bags or envelopes 14 having tension cords imbedded therein are formed to fit tightly in the weapon bay and around all bombs and bomb racks when expanded, as illustrated, the left envelope 14a being shown deflated in broken lines.

Each adjacent pair of inflatable envelopes 14 are the enantiomorphic analogue of each other. While the two outside envelopes are illustrated with empty hemispheric recesses due to the utilization of only the two commonly shaped envelopes, if so desired, the two side envelopes may be formed special and more form fitting by eliminating the hemispheric recesses on the outside only. Each of the envelopes 14 is connected at its top with a conventional envelope attachment means 15 to the top of the weapons bay 11.

While the drawing illustrates the weapons bay being on the bottom of the fuselage, if so desired it may be at any other position, such as on the side.

In operation, the envelopes are deflated to facilitate attaching of the bombs or missiles 13 to the bomb racks 12. Then the envelopes 14 are expanded by ducting a high pressure fluid therein to completely fill all remaining space in the weapons bay 11 and to form a streamlined undersurface on the aircraft.

If so desired, the fluid in the envelopes, such as air, may be heated or cooled and/or circulated to prevent the detrimental effects of freezing or overheating temperatures in the weapons bay.

On a supersonic bombing run, the bombs are ejected by the conventional explosive ejectors 12 as shown in the drawing by the second bomb from the left being ejected. Here it is noted that the fluid pressure in the envelopes permits ejection of the bombs, yet it is maintained high enough to always return the envolpe to its original flush, streamlined shape without permitting any high aerodynamic loads to build up in the weapons bay or on the bottom of the aircraft.

MODIFICATION The disclosed weapons bay may be palletized whereby all structure illustrated in the weapons bay is connected together and movable as a package in and out of the weapons bay. In this configuration, the bombs are attached to the bomb racks and the envelopes expanded in the privacy of a remote ordnance site. Then the complete package, with the bombs hidden from view of prying eyes is transported to the aircraft, lifted up, and attached in the weapons bay.

Acordingly, a weapons bay is disclosed for supersonic bombing runs requiring no bomb bay doors nor door actuators nor the actuation of doors during the supersonic flight, requiring no open bomb bays causing deterimental aerodynamic turbulence and forces at supersonic speeds, providing protection of the carried ordnance against all environmental weather conditions and against prying eyes, providing protection of the carried ordnance against all environmental weather conditions and against prying eyes, providing particularly transverse stability to the weapons, providing higher reliability over the powered door actuating mechanisms at supersonic speeds, and being easily palletized for efficiency of operation.

While a method and only two embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in the accompanying specification, it will be evident that various other modifications are possible in the arrangement and construction of the disclosed inflatable structure weapons bay for high speed aircraft without departing from the scope of the invention, and it is accordingly desired to comprehend within the purview of this invention such modifications as may be considered to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a vehicle having an outer surface for carrying articles to be ejected therefrom, a method for forming a storage bay for the articles comprising the steps of,

(a) forming a cavity having walls in the outer surface,

(b) releasably and ejectably mounting the articles in the cavity, and

(c) filling all space between the articles and the cavity Walls with inflatable, flexible, and pliable elements whereby the articles are supported laterally while carried in the storage bay and each article is ejectable Without moving but only the portion of the flexible and pliable elements adjacent to said each article.

2. In a vehicle having a weapons bay comprising a walled cavity opening into an outer surface of the vehicle with weapons supported from weapon racks in the cavity, a method for enclosing and protecting the weapons comprising the steps of,

(a) positioning fluid impervious pershaped envelopes between the weapons, and

(b) inflating the envelopes until they tightly fill all space between the weapons, weapons racks, and cavity walls for providing lateral support for the weapons, for providing ejection of the weapons between the envelopes, and for maintaining an aerodynamically smooth outer surface prior to ejection of the weapons and immediately subsequent to ejection of the weapons.

3. A storage bay for articles in a vehicle having an outer surface comprising,

(a) a cavity in said outer surface having walls,

(b) releasably mounting means in said cavity for supporting and ejecting said articles,

(0) and inflatable means mounted in said cavity for tightly filling all space between said articles, mounting means, and cavity walls.

4. In a storage bay as recited in claim 3,

(a) said inflatable means comprising inflatable, reinforced, fluid impervious, and fluid filled envelopes, said inflatable envelopes being soft enough to permit ejection of said articles from said vehicle and firm enough to maintain said vehicle outer surface aerodynamically smooth both prior to ejection of said articles and immediately subsequent to said ejection.

5. In a high speed vehicle having a weapons bay comprising a cavity opening into a surface of the vehicle with weapons detachably supported from weapon racks in the cavity, the improvement comprising,

(a) inflatable means for filling all the remaining space in said cavity for maintaining said weapons bay surface aerodynamically smooth and for protection against all environmental weather conditions during a high speed weapons drop run of said vehicle.

6. In the weapons bay as recited in claim 5,

(a) said inflatable means comprising a gas filled bag having a pressure low enough to permit ejection of the weapons therebetween the bags and high enough to maintain the aerodynamic shape of the vehicle during weapon ejections.

7. In the weapons bag as recited in claim 5,

(a) said inflatable means comprising preshaped inflatable bags for fitting around the weapons to insure filling all empty space in the weapons bay.

8. In a supersonic aircraft having a bomb bay comprising a cavity with bombs detachably supported from bomb racks in the cavity, the improvement comprising,

(a) inflatable means for filling all the remaining space in said bomb bay for maintaining an aerodynamically smooth bomb bay outer surface during supersonic speed bomb runs of said aircraft.

9. A weapons bay for carrying weapons in a high speed vehicle comprising,

(a) a cavity having walls in the bottom of said vehicle, (b) rack means for said cavity for releasably supporting said weapons, and (c) inflatable means for said cavity for filling all remaining space of said cavity for maintaining an aerodynamically smooth weapons bay lower surface during a high speed weapons drop run of said vehicle. 10. A Weapons bay for carrying weapons in a high speed vehicle having a body comprising,

(a) a cavity having walls in the bottom of said body, (b) racks secured to said cavity walls supporting said weapons therein, and (c) inflatable bags secured to said cavity walls, said bags, when inflated, tightly filling substantially all remaining space in the cavity between said weapons, weapons racks, and cavity Walls for maintaining an aerodynamically smooth weapons bay bottom surface during a high speed weapons drop run of said vehicle. 11. In an aircraft, a bomb bay for carrying and dropping bombs comprising,

(a) a cavity in the bottom of said aircraft, (b) rack means for said cavity for releasably supporting said bombs, and (c) inflatable means for said cavity for filling all remaining space in said cavity for maintaining an aerodynamically smooth bomb bay lower surface during a bombing run. 12. For a vehicle having a weapons bay for carrying and ejecting weapons, a weapons structure comprising,

(a) interconnected weapons support and ejection racks for releasably supporting said Weapons, and

(b) inflatable bags connected to said interconnected racks, said bags being inflatable to fill all space around said weapons and racks and being shaped to fill all of said vehicle cavity when inserted therein.

13. For an aircraft having a bomb bay for carrying and ejecting bombs, a bomb structure comprising,

(a) interconnected bomb racks for releasably supporting said bombs, and

(b) inflatable bags connected to said racks, said bags being inflatable to fill all space around said bombs and racks and being shaped to fill all of said aircraft bomb bay when inserted therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,097,804 5/1914 Jones 217 2,802,397 8/ 1957 Meadowcraft et al. 891.5 2,834,606 5/ 1958 Bertrand 280 2,874,826 2/1959 Matthews et al 2061 3,053,488 9/1962 Cox 244-13O 3,333,360 8/1967 Hardy 46124 SAMUEL W. ENGLE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 244129, 137 

